On the Nene last July at Irthlingborough we were about to lock down when I noticed a bunch of kids getting a canoeing lesson below the lock.
There's nothing like an instructor putting his feet where his mouth is!
Turns out they were from the local Rock UK Frontier Centre at Irthlingborough.
I thought he looked pretty cool, and I'm always delighted to see a guy demonstrate his mojo. Perhaps it was a bit dodgy for him to do this, beiung so close to the lock gate and moments before I was about to raise the guillotine to release 100,000 gallons of water from the lock and introduce them to Granny Buttons.
But what the hell, he looked cool and didn't fall in. And I waited for him.
As I passed, minutes later, another guy in charge haughtily said "Excuse me, you have to have our permission before you can photograph the young people." I'm not sure what irritated me more: that he called the children the ridiculously PC 'young people' or that he got so imperious. To scratch my double itch of irritation I pointed the camera at him and snapped some more.
It is wrong taking pictures of kids without the parents direct permission and the instructor was right to question you. How do they know who you are as they have direct responsibility for the minors. For holding up boats then both parties have to work together which normally happens. As long as the group is 3 meters away from the lock gate being opened then the canoe will not be sucked in.
I am sure the instructor was well aware of this.
Posted by: ben Smith | Friday, 24 June 2011 at 04:19 PM
Mike, I agree he should have handled it differently - ideally by not having been paranoid in the first place! I get so fed up with this social paranoia.
Posted by: Andrew Denny | Saturday, 03 July 2010 at 11:59 AM
I dont think the world is "ram jam" full of predators, the world however does, especially in the sphere of looking after kids where it is constantly rammed down your throat that you need 50 different permissions just to take kids away from home. all i was trying to point out was that the guy on the river was trying to take precautions although probably should have handled it differently.
Posted by: Mike | Friday, 02 July 2010 at 11:52 PM
Mike, you are *NOT* pointing out the obvious.
Unless you think that the world is ram-jam-full of dangerous predators at every turn, dressed as nuns and capable of leaping out of the bushes at anyone.
They were doing spectacular and risky stuff that is naturally photogenic, and holding up a boat coming out of a lock. I cautiously waited for five minutes while the paddlers did their stuff, and their antics naturally made them a target for attention.
No, Mike, this is nasty suspicious paranoid witch-hunting stupidity. It insults innocent people.
Posted by: Andrew Denny | Wednesday, 30 June 2010 at 10:03 PM
Not wishing to point out the obvious but surely
what would have seemed as an unknown and unrelated man taking photos of children with out permission would have seemed very wrong to someone looking after kids
Posted by: Mike | Wednesday, 30 June 2010 at 08:29 PM